


A Holy Moment

by SnitchNightly



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, I think... i hope it’s fluffy. I’m v out of it, Other, fatt rareswap, way more run on sentaces and pretentious metaphors than necessary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-27 02:03:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15014249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnitchNightly/pseuds/SnitchNightly
Summary: (V mild warning for body horror, and c/w spoilers)It’s been some time since Sokrates was expected to know how to dance. Integrity suggests practice.





	A Holy Moment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [automatronic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/automatronic/gifts).



> Pinch hit for the fatt rareswap for Automatronic! Again, I’m sorry it’s so short. I did my best to edit, but there’s probably some mistakes, so if you spot one let me know! Unless it’s about the timeline.... I can’t wrap my head around the c/w timeline and at this point I’m afraid to ask.   
> Also, a_w didn’t put hard light constructs in c/w, and I know this, but I like holograms and will not be stopped. they r.... pretty. 
> 
> I don’t know how happy I am w this one to be honest... I wish I had a better grasp on c/w bc.... I love.... Them......

As the door swung shut behind them, Sokrates Artemisios Nikon relaxed their posture and ran a hand through their hair, nails catching on unexpected bits of metal.

/You should practice./

They groaned exaggeratedly, throwing both hands in the air.

“I know that! Can I get, I dunno, five minutes of not being responsible? Can I take my shoes off, or is that illegal now? Did they write a whole new rule book for Apostalistian nobles while I was out, or is this a candidate thing, can I just never take a nap again? I can’t get five *seconds*?” 

The worst part about arguing with Integrity (other than always losing) was that there was nothing to argue at. It was easy to get mad at someone when they were standing in front of you, or you could hear their voice, even, instead of just a… thought. Integrity just felt like… a feeling. It was weird, having an impulse that didn't originate from you in your head. 

They’d been afraid Integrity would change the way they thought, some kind of mind control deal, but they always knew whose thought it was. The difference was that Integrity was just always… right about shit. 

Integrity didn’t bother responding directly to their rant, letting Sokrates tire themselves out pacing around the room and arguing at the air. 

“...Look, I know.”

Integrity waited patiently for them as they took a deep breath, pressing their hands into their eyes.

“I’m just… I’m just fucking tired.”

/Responsibility does not wait for you to be less exhausted, Candidate./

“Yeah, I noticed that one, thanks.”

They stayed there for another few seconds, just… breathing. Sokrates could feel Integrity running something in the background, metal plates shifting pragmatically under their skin to slow their heartbeat, calming them down. 

“I’m good. Let’s go, I’m good, how are we doing this?”

Integrity did something like humming, as if it hadn’t already thought this out and decided on a course of action. 

/I don’t expect much dancing. Your position will require you to be more available to conversation and political debate than you remember from events like this./

Already they could feel mechanisms in their shoulder shifting to make way for a small hard light projector, a stack of glass and crystal lenses clicking into place in front of a set of lights.

/However, it’s been sometime since you last performed under any type of scrutiny, and longer since you last practiced regularly. You should be passable, but with the physical changes recently, it won’t hurt to get used to dancing with the extra weight./

Sokrates grumbled under their breath.   
“...didn’t need to be fucking rude about it.”

/I meant me, Candidate./

Integrity didn’t laugh, necessarily. The closest they got was a vague sense of exasperated fondness, but to be honest, it was almost too familiar at times. They’d gotten worse responses to jokes, and it was… something. Just being able to have someone to talk to was something. 

It was more than they wanted to admit, actually.

 

Sokrates did their best to stay still as the light beam from their shoulder traced a simple figure in the air in glowing golden light. It was nearly featureless, just enough to dance with. As they settled their hand on the projections hip, the laser filled in more detail where they touched. They winced slightly as wires in their hands calibrated, giving them the impression of weight where there was none. The projections wireframe face looked intently at its own hand as fingers formed one by one, eventually turning back to them as Integrity silently invited them to put their hand in its. 

Exhaustion momentarily forgotten, Sokrates toed off their shoes and shuffled awkwardly into a more open part of their room.   
They watched closely as they intertwined their hand with the hologram, small gold pixel-like sparks dancing over their skin as it adjusted. 

“Huh.” they said, quietly, more a breath than a word.

/...Candidate./

Integrity felt more present, more… solid than normal, not just because of the figure in front of them. Divines didn’t get flustered, but there was some kind of warm warning in Integrity’s non-voice that almost made them question it.

“Yeah, I know, focus. Got it.”

Without thinking, Sokrates stepped forward in a half instinctual waltz step. The hologram followed their motions mechanically, keeping the exact same distance. It felt like dancing with a mirror, every movement was perfectly matched and accounted for, every step predicted. 

To the side of their vision, a heads up display informed them of every misstep or unexpected shift they made, and the exact degree to correct it. Not in an overwhelming or critical way, but like it was anything else- Integrity observed and offered data on what could be improved. 

It took some time for them to realize they had started humming. There was a soft chime echoing from somewhere, helping the dancers keep time like a metronome. Bits and pieces of memory had filled in the blanks in the song. Integrity kept time, the quiet ringing mingling with the sound of their bare feet on marble, the sound of the sea filtering in through the window. 

It was the strangest nostalgia. So much of being what they were now, being Integrity’s Candidate was being constantly present, always on. But for once it was simple, like they were a kid again in this very house, sand in their hair and sun on their cheeks as they walked Cassander through these steps for the first time like Euthane had done to them before. 

At the same time, it felt like the single minded physical work they had immersed themself in since the Kingdom Come, like they finally had permission to run on instinct over calculation. 

Bits of golden light trailed behind the hologram as it rewrote itself around Sokrates as they moved, like dust motes in sunlight. The light pulsed with each step, another way of keeping time, like Integrity had given its creation a pulse. 

Sokrates inhaled the sea air and closed their eyes, letting their shoulders fall and relax into the familiar steps. Through their eyelids they could see the glow of Integrity as it faded and grew to the beat of a song they’d forgotten they knew by heart. 

They could feel the Divines curiosity, Integrity tracing the dance almost reverently in the air with the kind of attention to detail only a thing called Integrity could have. 

 

Too much time was spent dancing in Sokrates quarters. The Divine Integrity is very good at keeping track of these things. This was a time at which Divines do not make mistakes. This is a time before excerpts. Before partners. This is a time of weapons and gods and vessels and sacrifice, if you are Divine, all you are is Divine. 

But there is a moment here when Integrity felt awe.   
Sokrates hands rough from the past few years spent farming. Their half smile as they hummed a song from a long time ago. The amount of trust, as if they were so sure it would never be betrayed, that came with closing their eyes. 

Some rules exist only for a moment, and in that time the universe is rewritten, and there is no war raging outside and there is no unhappy future and there is no regret filled past. 

For a moment, The Divine Integrity fell very deeply for a bright smile and tired eyes and an off key song, and understood what worship felt like.


End file.
